Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 9:24 AM

1. The US Supreme Court today refused to hear an appeal filed by Drakes Bay Oyster Company, thereby upholding lower court rulings that ordered the controversial oyster farm at Point Reyes National Seashore to close, the Chron and AP report. The high court’s decision also affirms one made in 2012 by then-Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who decided to let the oyster farm’s lease expire to make way for the first federally protected marine wilderness on the West Coast. Today’s decision means the oyster farm has no more legal appeals of Salazar’s ruling.

The court's decision means Drakes Estero will become the first marine wilderness on the West Coast.

2. Housing prices in Oakland have more than doubled in the last four years, rising from a median sales price of $203,000 in 2010 to $449,000 this year, SF Gate reports, citing a new analysis from Red Oak Realty. No East Bay city has experienced such a rapid rise in home prices in the past half-decade.

3. The housing price boom also has generated a $29 million budget surplus in Oakland, and is prompting a scramble in City Hall as to how to spend the proceeds, the Chron reports. Councilmembers appear poised to use some of the money to finance another police academy this year and to create a rainy-day fund reserve.

6. And in a 5-4 decision, the US Supreme Court’s conservative majority ruled that some corporations have the right to deny contraception to their employees on religious grounds under Obamacare, AP reports.